The Minister of Finance and the coordinating of the Economy, Wale Edun, has initiated a high-level stakeholder meeting to implement President Bola Tinubu’s directive for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited to sell crude oil to local refineries in Naira.
The meeting involving the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr Zacch Adedeji, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Mrs Lydia Jafiya, was held on Monday at the Finance Ministry headquarters in Abuja.
According to a post on the official X (formerly Twitter) page of the ministry, the initiative is intended to strengthen the domestic economy and support the sustainable operations of local refineries, including the Dangote Refinery.
The post read, “On Monday, the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, led a key meeting aimed at implementing President Tinubu’s directive for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited to sell crude oil to local refineries in Naira.
“This initiative is intended to strengthen the domestic economy and support the sustainable operations of local refineries, including the Dangote Refinery.
The meeting brought together important stakeholders, including Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr. Zacch Adedeji, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Lydia Jafiya, and other notable participants.”
During the in-depth discussions, the finance minister expressed strong confidence in the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders to achieve the directive’s objectives.
“The in-depth discussions underscored longstanding challenges within the petroleum sector, but the Minister expressed strong confidence in the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders to achieve the directive’s objectives.”
Recall that on July 29th, President Bola Tinubu directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other upcoming refineries in Naira.
The Federal Executive Council approved that the 450,000 barrels meant for domestic consumption be offered in Naira to Nigerian refineries, using the Dangote refinery as a pilot.
The move is to ensure the stability of the pump price of refined fuel and the dollar-naira exchange rate.
Findings show that Dangote Refinery, at the moment, requires 15 cargoes of crude, for $13.5 billion yearly. NNPC has committed to supply four.
Dangote refinery has been embroiled in a crude oil supply crisis with the International Oil Companies operating in Nigeria. Later, it had some confrontations with the country’s midstream/downstream regulator.
Additional efforts by our correspondent to get details of the meeting were unsuccessful as the Finance Ministry, Director of Press, Mohammed Manga, did not respond to phone calls made to his line.
PUNCH